What's the LD position on this?

While I think it's morally correct, I am concerned that Netanyahu must be cracking open the champagne. This is just the sort of thing that he'll be able to use in the upcoming election (especially as we're the ex colonial power), and it would be a bit sad if the only practical result was to get him re-elected.

Long time lurker, first time poster.

As per above, how do you feel these days when talking to people about politics?

I just had a conversation with a colleague and I feel people are more and more on the extreme.

They were just talking about the whole Reform debacle and I said that I feel there’s a massive space for a centrist moderate party. And then they go “have you heard about Restore?”. I think I just instinctively rolled my eyes. And even if you show statistics, people will not understand and say they are manipulated by this, that and the other.

I think that ignoring is worse but at the same time it’s hard to reason with people these days. I don’t push the subject but if they talk, I just say my opinion. And sometimes being a foreigner in the country I work and live, it’s becoming challenging to talk about this.

What are your experiences?

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The assisted dying debate is back.

On Friday, MPs debate the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which was blocked by the Lords in the last parliamentary session.

This time it's brought by Lauren Edwards, but it's identical to the previous one, which means MPs can use the Parliament Act to force the bill through without approval from the Lords if they try to block it again.

Two big government bills this week.

The first rewrites the legal framework for the aviation industry, and the second reins in Right to Buy.

And Friday brings private member's bills.

Given the assisted dying bill, the others probably won't get debated within the allotted time, but the list gives you a flavour of the issues that matter to the current crop of MPs.

MONDAY 7 SEPTEMBER

Health Bill – report stage and 3rd reading
Applies to: England and Wales
Abolishes NHS England and folds its functions back into the Department of Health and Social Care. Also reforms the structure of integrated care boards and foundation trusts, and introduces a single patient record shared across the health service.
Draft bill (PDF) / Commons Library briefing

TUESDAY 8 SEPTEMBER

Artificial Superintelligence Bill
Bans the development, deployment, and operation of artificial superintelligence systems, a hypothetical form of AI with more advanced 'thinking' skills than any human. Ten minute rule motion presented by Alex Sobel.

Health Bill – report stage and 3rd reading
Continued from Monday.

WEDNESDAY 9 SEPTEMBER

Personal Data (Digital Twins) Bill
Bans tech companies from creating 'digital twins' without a user's consent. These models use personal data to predict people’s behaviour or target them with ads. Ten minute rule motion presented by Chi Onwurah.

Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Aims to modernise the legal framework that underpins the aviation industry. Strengthens the Civil Aviation Authority's powers to investigate airlines and fine them for breaking consumer protection rules. Gives the government powers to introduce stronger passenger rights, including on compensation, baggage, pricing, accessibility, and complaints, among other things.
Draft bill (PDF) / Lords Library briefing

THURSDAY 10 SEPTEMBER

Social Housing Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England and Wales
Extends the qualifying period before a social tenant can use Right to Buy from three years to ten, cuts the maximum discount available, and exempts newly built social homes from the scheme for 35 years. Also requires housing associations to notify councils before selling off homes outside the social sector, and strengthens protections for social tenants who are victims of domestic abuse. Started in the Lords.
Draft bill (PDF) / Lords Library briefing

FRIDAY 11 SEPTEMBER

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England and Wales
Legalises assisted dying for terminally ill adults. This is the same bill that passed the Commons last year under Kim Leadbeater. Private member's bill presented by Lauren Edwards.
Draft bill (PDF)

Gaza (Independent Public Inquiry) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Sets up an independent public inquiry into UK military, economic, and political cooperation with Israel since October 2023, including arms sales, surveillance flights, and the use of RAF bases. Private member's bill presented by Jeremy Corbyn.
Draft bill (PDF)

Environmental Impact Assessment (Downstream Emissions) Bill – 2nd reading
Exempts new oil and gas projects from having to assess the environmental impact of burning the fuel they extract. Reverses a 2024 Supreme Court ruling. Private member's bill presented by Harriet Cross.
Bill not yet published

Hospitality Services (Value Added Tax Exemption) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Exempts hotels, restaurants, and other catering and accommodation providers from charging VAT on their services. Private member's bill presented by Christopher Chope.
Draft bill (PDF)

Sporting and Physical Education Services (Value Added Tax Exemption) Bill – 2nd reading
Exempts sports and fitness services from VAT wherever no exemption already applies. Private member's bill presented by Christopher Chope.

Meat (Information About Method of Killing) Bill – 2nd reading
Requires producers, suppliers, and retailers of meat to say clearly whether an animal was killed under religious slaughter methods without prior stunning. Requires the government to collect and publish data on how much meat is slaughtered this way. Private member's bill presented by Christopher Chope.

Covid-19 Vaccine Damage Payments Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland (part), Northern Ireland (part)
Requires the government to help people disabled, or the next of kin of people who died, shortly after a Covid-19 vaccination, and to look into setting up a compensation scheme. Private member's bill presented by Christopher Chope.
Draft bill (PDF)

European Convention on Human Rights (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill – 2nd reading
Gives the prime minister the power to formally notify that the UK intends to leave the European Convention on Human Rights. Private member's bill presented by Mike Wood.

Lobular Breast Cancer Bill – 2nd reading
Requires the government to fund and support research into lobular breast cancer, a less common form of the disease that's harder to pick up on a mammogram. Private member's bill presented by John Milne.

Controlled Drugs (Procedure for Specification) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Changes how drugs get classified as class A, B or C. At the moment it's done through an Order in Council, which needs sign-off from the King and Privy Council. This bill would let the Home Secretary reclassify substances by regulation instead, so new drugs can be controlled much more quickly. Private member's bill presented by Matt Turmaine.
Draft bill (PDF)

Short-Term Let Accommodation Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England and Wales
Introduces a licensing scheme for short-term let properties such as Airbnbs, alongside new rules on how they're marketed and how planning permission applies to them. Private member's bill presented by Rachael Maskell.
Draft bill (PDF)

In-Person Banking Services Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Requires the Financial Conduct Authority to set minimum standards for in-person banking services, as bank branches keep closing. Private member's bill presented by Alan Mak.
Draft bill (PDF)

Home Cooling Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland (part), Northern Ireland (part)
Removes VAT on certain home cooling measures, such as air conditioning and shading. Requires the government to report on the case for grants to help councils in England fund home cooling for residents. Private member's bill presented by Freddie van Mierlo.
Draft bill (PDF)

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One poll company etc etc. But this party is struggling for national relevance.

I'm curious why lib dems are so keen to change the voting system, obviously it would be more fair but the current system helps the lib dems more the PR would. Lib dems operate on being very popular at a local level and focusing on specific areas rather than the nation. But wouldnt they be unable to do that without FPTP?

Yields have jumped considerably, partly due to global effects, but there's still a premium on UK gilts compared to elsewhere.

We're still borrowing huge sums each year with debt to GDP looking like it will continue to increase.

How would you fix this?

What spending are you cutting? What taxes are you increasing? What else would you do?

Interesting. Stand for Reform. Take cabinet post in Reform Administration. Leave Reform become independent then join the Lib Dem’s.

See title. Ex member looking to chatting again, like old times.

The Liberal Democrat party in the UK is a nothing party. In order to make a mark, in my opinion they should become "Conservative Leftists", like Sahra Wagenknecht in Germany.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZP2LK9mcz8 This is a video by TLDR news explaining what Conservative Leftists are, while also explaining it in Germany.

Some will say that reform is like this, but who would not like a reasonable Reform?

Everyone seems to hate Nick Clegg these days, but I am not sure why. Is it because he left in 2017 to work for what many see as an evil company, i.e. Facebook / Meta?

And to what extent did they just take credit for initiatives during their time in the Coalition government of 2010 - 2015 like legalisation of same-sex marriage, while washing their hands of other initiatives for which they could have pushed back, like the bedroom tax, trebling of tuition fees etc?

I also seem to recall that Vince Cable, as Business Secretary in the Coalition government, slashed registration fees for Companies House and reduced a lot of KYC checks and processes, which probably didn't help in terms of the Coronavirus Bounce-Back Loan (BBL) and PPE contract fraud during the pandemic.

This is perhaps what led to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), i.e. clamp down on fraudulent companies set up during a period of minimal checks and accountability.

It looks like Burnham is keen on them but he's surely applying the concept incorrectly? They are not a substitute for local authority taxes.

‘I’ve mostly treated Restore Britain as another source of comedy material for my Threads audience. Rupert Lowe says something ridiculous, one of the little gang around him says something even more ridiculous, I take the piss, everyone has a nice time and we move on with our day.

Then I saw a number. 10,000,000.

Charlie Downes, Restore Britain’s campaigns director and official spokesman, has said a Restore government would deport “upwards of ten million people.”

And that stopped me. Because ten million isn’t “stop the boats”. It isn’t deporting foreign criminals. It isn’t even Restore Britain’s own estimate of the number of people living illegally in the country. Ten million people is around one person in every seven living in Britain. And when you look at like that, that is f***ing scary.
So I had what seemed like a fairly straightforward question.

Who the f*** are they?

This isn’t a policy about somebody who has entered the country illegally or overstayed a visa. Restore is explicitly talking about people whom the British state has given a legal right to live here.

And look at the tests that follow… There’s an enormous difference between some of those things. If somebody has committed a serious criminal offence, there is at least a legal process capable of establishing what happened. There are already circumstances in which foreign nationals can be deported following conviction.

But what does “fails to integrate” mean? Who decides? How integrated is integrated enough? Is there a test? Does someone come round with a clipboard and ask if you know the words to Jerusalem?

What does “hates our way of life” mean? Which way of life? Mine? Rupert Lowe’s? Yours?
Britain contains monarchists, republicans, Muslims, Christians, atheists, communists, Tories, anarchists, vegans, fox hunters and people who put the milk in tea first. We’ve been arguing about what “our way of life” means for centuries. That is part of our way of life in this country.

We’re a mongrel breed melting-pot, a vibrant ever adapted nation rich in a history of multicultural mixing from way back even before Commonwealth and even before Empire days.

Anyway, back to unpicking that website statement, social housing? That one is particularly revealing because living in social housing isn’t behaviour. It isn’t a crime.

It isn’t even a political opinion. It’s where you live. Yet Restore lists it among possible reasons a legally resident foreign national should be expelled from the country.’

(Full details in article)